BY DERYA SAZAK
MILLIYET- Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Turkey was a historic one. His trip came at a time when Turkey is waiting for the European Union to make a decision on starting our membership talks. He’s the first Russian president to visit Turkey throughout the problematic history of ties between Ankara and Moscow. At the beginning of the 20th century, there were certain intersections in the political fate of our two countries, similar to today. In this period, the Ottoman Empire was disintegrating, culminating with the founding of the Turkish Republic, and in Russia the Czar’s regime was ended by the Soviet Revolution. In the 1920s, there were friendly relations between Ankara and Moscow. Following World War II, the Turkish Straits issue emerged with the Cold War era, and we were pushed into the role of the West’s bulwark against communism. After the fall of the Berlin Wall and the disintegration of the Soviet Union, huge improvements were seen in Turkish-Russian relations, especially in terms of commerce. There was no serious tension between Moscow and Ankara, except over Chechnya. Could Putin’s visit be the beginning of a strategic opening in relations between the two countries in the first quarter of the 21st century? How will our countries relate in the years to come?
Both have established strong centralized leadership over time and now they are appropriate for the role of ‘countries being directed.’ Former Russian President Yevgeniy Primakov made this definition for his country, which accepted its own role in the unipolar world as of the 1990s. Russia played this role without objection until the Sept. 11 attacks in the US. However, then it became impossible to block the US’ ambitions to establish world domination with its wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and Putin searched for a policy of balance. Primakov thinks that Russia shouldn’t be a country which is being directed anymore. Will Russia be able to become an active player on the world stage again? In addition, there is the EU membership bid on Turkey’s road map. However, even if the Union decides to start our talks in late 2005, the EU is leaving the full membership aim open ended and thus, our tie with Europe could be loose. Nobody can see what will come in 10-15 years. The third road for Turkey besides Europe and the US is to develop new multidimensional strategies with Russia and Eurasia. In this respect, messages of strengthened partnership from Moscow coming with Putin’s visit are meaningful.